The Great Ruler: Starting from the Lower Plane

Without hesitation, Ye Feng transformed into a streak of light and plunged straight into the vortex.

The scene before him changed in an instant, and an endless sea of ​​crimson fire appeared before Ye Feng's eyes. The flames were soaring into the sky that Ye Feng felt as if he had been thrown into a giant furnace.

Unlike ordinary flames, the flames here do not have a scorching sensation; instead, they possess a peculiar gentleness and vastness.

Every flickering flame in the world contains a vast and pure energy, no less powerful than that of the core area of ​​the Burning Heaven Ancient Realm.

"The interior space of this Fire Sword Stele is truly extraordinary."

Ye Feng walked through the air and slowly landed on a floating platform formed by crimson magma, then scanned his surroundings.

This fiery space doesn't look particularly vast, but the energy inside is incredibly dense. Besides the energy flames, you can vaguely see fine, needle-like crimson sword blades piercing through it.

"These blades must be the sword energy inside the Blazing Fire Sword Stele..."

On the platform, Ye Feng's divine sense spread out like a tide, carefully perceiving every area of ​​this space.

"Hmm...down there..."

Suddenly, Ye Feng's gaze froze.

Beneath this boundless sea of ​​fire, the fluctuations emanating from there are particularly peculiar.

"Let's go down and take a look..."

With a slight thought, Ye Feng's sword energy circulated around his body, forming a light blue light shield on his surface, isolating him from the terrifying high temperature outside. He then sank into the sea of ​​flames below.

The deeper you go, the deeper the color of the flames becomes. The originally crimson endless sea of ​​fire gradually turns into dark red and dark gold.

After diving for an unknown amount of time, the view suddenly opened up ahead, and Ye Feng's eyes lit up instantly.

At this moment, in front of Ye Feng was a lake formed from dark golden flames. The lake surface was calm and still, the flames were solid as liquid, and they emitted a heart-palpitating energy fluctuation.

In the center of the lake, a three-foot-long sword, formed from pure dark golden flames, stood suspended in mid-air.

This sword, its entire body flowing with liquid-like dark gold flames, quietly floated in the deepest part of this sea of ​​flames. Even from a great distance, Ye Feng could clearly see the ancient patterns on its body, which were completely identical to the Li Huo Sword Stele outside.

clang!

The longsword rang softly, as if in response to Ye Feng's arrival. In an instant, the entire space trembled slightly, and the boundless sea of ​​fire rippled outwards.

"This should be the true form of the spirit of the Blazing Fire Sword Stele..."

Ye Feng's pupils contracted slightly, and he was startled.

He could sense that the energy contained in this flaming giant sword was far more abundant and refined than the ocean of flames outside, and it even gave him a faint sense of oppression.

"Let's try to communicate..."

Ye Feng concealed his aura, moved slightly forward, and extended his divine sense, sending a wisp of intent towards the dark gold flame longsword.

However, Ye Feng's spiritual senses sank without a trace, receiving no response.

"This thing doesn't have a strong sense of self, and it doesn't reject outsiders entering this space to absorb energy. For tens of thousands of years, no one has been able to subdue and control it. Among them, there must have been many Sword Emperor-level experts who tried..."

Ye Feng felt guilty and turned over, remaining silent for a moment.

As a legacy of the Burning Heaven Sword Sect, the Blazing Fire Sword Stele has undoubtedly been attempted to be subdued by numerous powerful Sword Emperors throughout history.

However, no one has succeeded so far, which means that the spirit of this monument is either extremely difficult to communicate with, or the conditions for recognizing the master are extremely harsh and beyond imagination.

"Purely telepathic communication isn't very effective..."

Ye Feng pondered for a moment, his gaze falling on the calm lake of dark gold flames. Then, he slowly raised his right hand, his sword energy flowing within him. A wisp of pure imperial sword energy drifted out from his fingertips and flew towards the dark gold flame longsword.

The moment this wisp of sword energy touched the dark gold flame longsword.

hum!

The longsword suddenly trembled and emitted a buzzing sound.

The once calm lake of dark gold flames suddenly boiled over, with towering flames shooting into the sky and gathering into a firestorm thousands of feet high. The dark gold flame sword slowly rose and finally hovered in the center of the storm.

"Such terrifying fluctuations... truly something from the vast world..."

Looking at the fiery storm that shot straight into the sky, seemingly capable of burning everything, Ye Feng's expression hardened slightly.

This oppressive aura made him feel a pang of fear, a feeling no less intense than that he felt from someone like Su Zhen, a late-stage Sword Empress.

However, he could sense that the spirit of the monument was not hostile to him, and as long as he did not touch it, he would not be attacked.

If he hadn't made direct contact with the spirit using his sword energy, the latter wouldn't have reacted so strongly. And given how terrifying the spirit's aura alone was, the difficulty of controlling it is unimaginable.

"Never mind, the most important thing right now is to cultivate. Once I've improved my strength, I can try some more things. Even if I don't gain the spirit's approval by then, the purpose of this trip will have been achieved."

Ye Feng composed himself slightly, then took a deep breath, no longer fixated on communicating with the spirit of the monument, and immediately sat cross-legged, forming hand seals.

Compared to the boundless sea of ​​fire above, the energy here, closer to the spirit of the monument, is much more concentrated.

With the Devouring Heaven Sword Technique and the Celestial Star Guiding Sword Technique, two sword techniques that accelerate energy absorption, running at full power, Ye Feng's sword essence surged like the Yangtze River within his body.

In an instant, an invisible vortex slowly formed around Ye Feng, greedily absorbing the immense energy within this space.

Strands of energy, like rivers flowing into the sea, continuously surged into Ye Feng's body, transforming into pure sword energy that permeated his limbs, bones, and dantian.

Ye Feng's aura surged once again.

Compared to the Burning Heaven Ancient Realm, the energy within the Li Huo Sword Stele is not inferior, and for Ye Feng, who possesses an innate sword body, cultivating and improving his strength in this world is not too difficult.

Such energy conversion efficiency is far beyond what ordinary people can achieve. The innate sword body can be called the supreme physique in this world, with few bottlenecks to speak of.

However, the energy required to reach the Sword Emperor realm is unimaginably vast. Even with the abundant energy within the Blazing Fire Sword Stele, Ye Feng's breakthrough would not be achieved overnight.

Time slipped away quietly in this silent space.

As Ye Feng entered a meditative state, the fiery storm in mid-air began to slowly recede, and the entire space gradually returned to its former tranquility.

In the blink of an eye, a year has passed.

With the continuous absorption and transformation of energy, Ye Feng's strength has once again undergone a qualitative improvement, reaching the same level as Su Zhen, and is only one step away from the perfect Sword Emperor realm.

This was not Ye Feng's limit; the energy in this space was limited and nearly exhausted.

The energy required to advance one small realm in the Sword Emperor realm is enormous. In the present Sword Continent, it is difficult to find a place that can support the cultivation of people at this level.

The cultivation of Ye Feng alone exhausted the entire inheritance space of the Burning Heaven Sword Sect.

Fortunately, compared to the Burning Heaven Ancient Realm, the Blazing Fire Sword Stele is inscribed with an array that absorbs external energy, and it has a spirit consciousness. As long as there is enough external energy, it can recover.

"Still a bit lacking..."